The influence of social identity and intimacy of relationship on interethnic communication: An extension of findings from the united states to Australia and England

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to extend research on the influence of the social identity and intimacy of relationship on interethnic communication in the United States to Australia and England. Data from Australia and England were used to test the generalizability of Gudykunst and Hammer's (1988) findings in the United States. They found that intimacy of the relationship affected uncertainty reduction processes in interethnic relationships. Further, their data indicated that social identity affected uncertainty reduction processes when the partner is perceived to be typical of his or her ethnic group, but not when he or she is perceived as atypical. Results for Australia and England revealed that intimacy of relationship has a significant positive effect on uncertainty reduction processes across cultures. With respect to social identity, the findings for England were consistent with the United States data, but results for Australia were not.

Notes

William B. Gudykunst is a Professor of Speech Communication at California State University, Fullerton; Joseph Forgas is a Professor of Psychology at the University of New South Wales in Kensington, Australia; Arlene Franklyn‐Stokes is a Lecturer in Psychology at Polytechnic Southwest in Devon, England; Karen Schmidt is an Instructor of Speech Communication at Chandler‐Gilbert Community College in Chandler, Arizona; Stephanie Moylan was a graduate student in psychology at the University of New South Wales when this research was conducted. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Speech Communication Association Convention, New Orleans, November, 1988. We want to thank Gao Ge for her assistance in data analysis, as well as the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions in adapting the manuscript for the journal.